ABC blog

A trio of United Nations human rights experts including Special Rapporteur on Iran Asma Jahangir have called for the Iranian judiciary to immediately halt the execution of Amirhossein Pourjafar, a boy 16 years of age at the time of the crime for which he has been sentenced, scheduled for October 19. Such sentencing is a flagrant violation of Iran’s commitments in international law, which expressly forbid capital punishment for those convicted of committing crimes before the age of 18.

From  the office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights:

GENEVA (18 October 2017) – UN human rights experts* have made an urgent appeal to Iran to halt the execution of Amirhossein Pourjafar, who was 16 years of age when he was sentenced to death. The execution is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

“The Iranian authorities must immediately halt the execution of this juvenile offender and annul the death sentence against him in compliance with their international obligations,” the experts said. “International standards unequivocally forbid imposing the death sentence on anyone under 18 years of age.”

The experts said Iran was continuing to execute juvenile offenders despite it being strictly prohibited by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is party. In 2016, the Committee on the Rights of the Child strongly urged Iran to end the execution of children and persons who committed a crime while under the age of 18.

However, Iran has executed at least four juvenile offenders since January, and at least 86 more are known to be on death row, although the actual figure may be higher.

A few months ago, Iran executed Alireza Tajiki, who was arrested in 2012 when he was 15 years old. Prior to his execution, he had spent four years on death row amid reports of torture and violations of his right to a fair trial.

“We deplore the continued scheduling of the executions of juvenile offenders,” the experts said. “Iran should immediately and unconditionally abolish the sentencing of children to death, and engage in a comprehensive process of commutation of all death sentences issued against children, in line with juvenile justice standards.”

Amirhossein Pourjafar was sentenced to death in September 2016 after being convicted of the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl.  The court said he had attained “mental maturity” at the time of the crime and had understood the nature and consequences of his actions. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence in January 2017.

*The UN experts: Ms. Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ms. Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and Ms. Renate Winter, current Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.